North Wales to East Anglia

[Big Chris]

Evening folks,

Got a bit of a problem; i'm struggling to find cheap fares for the journey outlined below:

Bangor (Gwynedd) to Brandon,Thetford or Ely and return

Need to arrive mid afternoon on 31st July
Leave mid/late morning on 1st August

1 Adult and 1 Child
no railcards
Crosscountry or via London is fine

money is tight so help would be much appreciated on getting them there and back as cheaply as possible will happily split and/or use advances

Thanks in advance
Chris

 

[yorkie]

via London is an option, but VWC & Connections tickets end at about Cambridge, and are not available to places like Ely. So you could re-book at Cambridge.

If you don't mind going out of your way, There are decent value ATW & Connections tickets available to Leeds/York (from £17 undiscounted adult), and from Leeds/York you can get good deals on East Coast. No chance of the best deals now I'd have thought as it's short notice, but prices start at about £9 undiscounted adult.

There are also decent priced ATW & Connections tickets to Sheffield (prices start at £16 undiscounted adult), and from Sheffield there are EMIDSTRAINS.ONLY fares to Ely/Thetford (not Brandon as East Midlands Trains do not call at Brandon and no "& Connections" fare exists), in theory these start at £9 but may be hard to find at that price. You may suffer a lack of on board catering going this way, so bring plenty of food or plan for a break at Sheffield!

Another method that may be very cheap at relatively short notice is to get VWC & Connections AP tickets to Nuneaton, and then XC Only from Nuneaton to Ely. Then re-book if required to Brandon/Thetford. XC only fares from Nuneaton to Ely start at £6.50 (undiscounted adult) or £4.30 for adults and £1.25 for U16s if a FAM railcard is held. The North Wales trains tend to call at Nuneaton. Allow plenty of time for the connection (in some cases you have to allow 1 hour as the trains can be at similar times past the hour).

I'd recommend buying a Family & Friends railcard for this - it will be worth it!

Walk-on returns from Bangor to Ely for 1 adult and 1 child are £70.55 with a FAM railcard (£54.80 + £15.75), the price of the railcard is recouped in the 1st journey in this case.

 

[Welshman]

Sorry, Yorkie - loathe as I am to correct your usually excellent advice, but as far as I know, the only North Wales trains which call at Nuneaton are the 0450 ex Holyhead and the 1710 & 1810 ex Euston.

 

[Big Chris]

Thanks for the help so far; I can't find any ticket combinations that can save anything worth bothering with; with that in mind what are the valid routes for the off peak return?

 

[sonic2009]

Bangor to Ely

ok the off-peak return is £124.50 route not london. for 1adult and 1child.

routes i can see by journey planners on this ticket, are manchester, sheffield, nottingham or birmingham new street

if you buy a family railcard at £26. off peak return route not london becomes £70.55. So total cost is £96.55, still saving yourself £27.95.

Looking at Advances.

Outward Journey 31st July

0802 Bangor to Birmingham New Street arr 1127

Advance Single £14.45 with Railcard/£25.50 without railcard

1222 Birmingham New Street to Ely arr 1452

Advance Single £13.60 with railcard/£24.00 without railcard

Return Journey 1st August

Option 1
1111 Ely to Birmingham New Street arr 1339

Advance Single £9.80 with railcard/£17.25 without railcard

1524 Birmingham New Street to Bangor arr 1842

Advance Single £18.70 with railcard/£33.00 without railcard

Involves a nearly a 2hour wait in Birmingham.

Option 2

1111 Ely to Birmingham New Street arr 1339

Advance Single £9.80 with Railcard/£17.25 without railcard

1401 Birmingham to Manchester Piccadilly arr 1540

Advance Single £10.65 with railcard/18.75 without railcard

1556 Manchester to Bangor arr 1818

1556 Manchester to Chester arr 1655
1702 Chester to Bangor arr 1818

Advance Single £10.20 with railcard/£18.00 without railcard

Total cost option 1 return

£82.55 with purchase of railcard. can be used for future journeys tho
£99.75 without railcard
Option 2

£84.70 with purchase of railcard
£103.50 without railcard

so i wouldnt bother with advances. unless anyone can find anything cheaper.